This invention relates to envelope assemblies, and, more particularly, to continuous envelope assemblies.
Prior art of possible relevance includes the following U.S. Patents: Reuter U.S. Pat. No. 2,722,369, issued Nov. 1, 1955; Patton U.S. Pat. No. 2,824,685, issued Feb. 25, 1958; Alton U.S. Pat. No. 3,547,343, issued Dec. 15, 1970; Komen U.S. Pat. No. 3,580,488, issued May 25, 1971; and Stutz U.S. Pat. No. 3,790,068, issued Feb. 5, 1974.
Continuous envelope assemblies have long been used for any of a variety of reasons. Their continuous nature allow the same to be easily fed through printers or the like for imprintation thereon of an address of the intended recipient. Similarly, their continuous nature allows the assemblies to be fed through stuffing equipment wherein the intended contents of the envelope are introduced into the pocket thereof. Generally, continuous envelope assemblies of the type mentioned in the preceding paragraph have fallen into two categories. The first is that wherein generally conventional envelopes are secured by any suitable means to carrier strips from which they are removed when about to be placed in the outgoing mail. A second category is represented by the patents cited above and includes such envelope assemblies where two sheets or plies are superimposed upon one another and glued together in such a way that each individual envelope will include a pocket defined by a U-shaped glue line. One ply will be provided with small die cuts to define the flap of the envelope, while the other ply will generally be provided with a large die cut which is aligned with the flap to allow the flap to be folded over the envelope after the contents have been received in the pocket defined by the U-shaped glue line.
Continuous envelope assemblies of the second category have been quite successful but are not totally without disadvantages. For example, the maximum width of the interior of the envelope is limited by the spacing between the legs of the U-shaped glue line with the consequence that such an envelope requires a larger overall width dimension to enclose the same size contents as could be received in a conventional folded envelope.
At the same time, the die cut on one ply made to allow the flap to be folded over the ply to seal the envelope requires the removal of a considerable amount of paper which cannot be utilized other than by recycling. Consequently, the cost of materials utilized to form such envelopes is greater than would be the case if such paper wastage could be eliminated.
In addition, when such envelopes are utilized in fast indexing printers, occasionally the die cuts utilized to form the corners of the flap may hang up on mechanical components of the printer causing shutdowns or requiring a reduction in flow speed, resulting in less than full use of the printer capacity.